As Nigerian football stakeholders, fans, followers and analysts continue asking questions regarding a revival of the under-17 national team, Golden Eaglets, a product of the squad has called for the mobilisation of scouts across the country’s six geo-political zones.
Sports247 reports that this suggestion was offered by 1997 African Footballer of The Year, Victor Nosa Ikpeba, who was in the star-studded Eaglets’ squad of Scotland ’89 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Ikpeba, who is fondly called ‘The Prince of Monaco,’ noted in an exclusive interview with Sports247 that the problem with Nigerian football is not lack of talent, but how to spot them and blend them into a winning squad.
He also refused to label recent failures of the Eaglets as a slump, preferring instead to point at advancements being achieved by other countries, hence his call for new ideas from technical buffs at Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Ikpeba opined, “I don’t think the Eaglets are down. It’s only that football has evolved and we cannot dominate as we used to in the past. That does not mean we are short of talent.
“Go to various grassroots fields across Nigeria, you’ll see that many talents are there. What we need is to create an environment where these talents can be brought together to showcase themselves.”
The member of Nigeria’s 1996 Olympic Games gold medal-winning squad, who played for RC Liege of Belgium, AS Monaco of France and Borussia Dortmund of Germany at the height of his career, also called for more attention to the under-15 national team.
“We need to see how we can get grassroots players to excel at the national level. That’s why scouts need to go round into various communities to see things for themselves.
“Let’s also look more into the under-15 national team and develop players from there. Anyone who can play for the under-15 team should be able to play for the Eaglets.
“It’s just a matter of getting scouts to visit clubs, academies and competitions at the grassroots so that they can see what’s happening there then make recommendations to national team coaches,” Ikpeba posited.
